


Dog Days of Summer

by nancylovesreylo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Buster loves Baby, Buster the dog - Freeform, Dog walker Rey, F/M, Fluff, Halloween, Pregnancy, Pregnant Sex, Professor Ben Solo, Reylo Baby, SO MUCH FLUFF, Star Trek love, all the doggos, and a prompt from MsDes, author can only write what she knows, babies smell so good, based on Adam Driver fan art by hotside, buster pov, cuddles and scritchies, meet cute, mentions of pregnancy symptoms, msdes I sincerely apologize for the lack of smut, now in chapter 2, rating has changed due to a leeetle smut in ch. 2, some Aggie/Longhorn smack, tighty not-whities, veterinary student Rey, which trigger me lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-07-28 09:27:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20061766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nancylovesreylo/pseuds/nancylovesreylo
Summary: Veterinary student Rey has loved dogs ever since a puppy stole her heart at 7 years old. Now, she supplements her scholarships with a side business walking dogs. When there's a mixup with the scheduling of her newest client Buster, Rey walks in and gets an eyeful of Buster's owner instead.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [msdes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/msdes/gifts).

> Based on this [Adam Driver fan art by Hotside](https://twitter.com/hotside_reylo/status/1155853330087841792?s=20), and this prompt from [MsDes/Sofondabooks](https://twitter.com/sofondabooks/status/1155858494798491648?s=20): "AU where Rey is a dogwalker, she’s never actually ever met the dog owner (just his assistant, Mitaka) and there was a mixup with the dates, she walks into his condo with into this scene."
> 
> Thank you so much to [MyJediLife](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyJediLife/pseuds/MyJediLife/works) and [Voicedimplosives](https://archiveofourown.org/users/voicedimplosives/pseuds/voicedimplosives/works) for your help beta'ing and holding my hand!
> 
> This was my first ever attempt at creative writing. I've been a voracious reader, but I wanted to experience what it's like for those on the creative side, as well as learn how to post to AO3. The art and prompt spoke to me, so here I am, and I empathize with you all so much more now!! Seriously, thank you to all my Reylo authors who have enriched my life SO MUCH these past 19 months. I appreciate you all more than you know.

[ ](https://imgur.com/aB4wGN2)

_ A 7-year-old girl sat still as a statue in the passenger seat of an ancient 1980-era Buick station wagon, with a cardboard box on her lap. She was terrified of the creature inside. Who knew what terrible thing it might do? _

_ Rey had moved in with Maz six months before, and she still wondered whether this home would be like all the others. Where she was forgotten, her needs always put last. No one ever looked at her. No one belonged to her. But Maz was a widow whose children were all grown, and she had a way of focusing on Rey as if she were the only person in the room. When she turned those big Coke-bottles-glasses-enhanced eyes on her, Rey felt seen. _ _ _

_ Maz was talking in the background, saying how much she’d love this new addition to their family, but Rey wasn’t listening. The fear inside her was clawing its way up her throat. The creature looked up at her with big, brown eyes that seemed - scared? Slowly, it stood up on its wobbly hind legs, reached its head up to where Rey’s hand was on the side of the box, stuck out its little pink tongue, and gave Rey the most tentative little *lick*. Rey fell in love with the puppy from that moment onwards, and her fear of dogs - debilitating up to that point - vanished in an instant. _

_ Rey named her dog Belle. With Belle’s love and Maz’s care, the scared little girl blossomed into a confident young woman. She felt seen - and she had two beings in this world who loved her unconditionally, and who belonged to her, and she to them. _

_ When Belle had to be put to sleep at age 13, Rey was holding her, whispering what a good girl she was, the tears that she couldn’t suppress dripping down. The vet was so calm and kind, and the care she’d given Belle in her final illness was beyond Rey’s expectations. Rey had always loved animals anyway, taking in other orphaned and unwanted pets whenever she could. And so, at age 20, the undecided college student decided to focus all her attention on getting into veterinary school, so she could serve and care for the creatures that had given that little unwanted girl her first taste of true, unconditional love. _

\----------

That 20-year-old college student became a 24-year-old veterinary medicine student at Texas A&M. That really burned, as her undergraduate degree was from the University of Texas, but A&M was the only vet school in Texas, and one of the top schools in the country, so… the Longhorn in her had to suck it up.

Maz didn’t have the money for tuition, but Rey had some financial aid, and she also worked at a local vet clinic as a vet tech - and she had a thriving dog walking business on the side. Dog walking worked great with her schedule, as she could walk the dogs around her classes and other obligations.

That Friday in July, she was rushing to get to the condo of her newest client, Buster. She had only been walking Buster for a few weeks, and was still struggling to get the scheduling worked out with Mitaka, the owner’s assistant. She had never met the owner himself. Apparently he was a professor of chemical engineering at the university, and judging by his home, he wasn’t doing too bad for himself. Everything was gleaming chrome, white marble countertops, real wood floors, and an uber-expensive Italian imported espresso machine.

But the man himself was a mystery. A workaholic, apparently, and she had heard from some of his students that he was a hard-ass. He didn’t have much in the way of personal effects in his home. Nothing in his fridge (she had snooped) except eggs and milk, and nothing on his gleaming countertops except a bowl of fruit and several boxes of cereal. As far as Rey could tell, he and Buster lived alone. She had no idea how old he was or what he looked like.

On this Friday, she let herself in as usual with the key from the lockbox outside the door. Buster usually rushed to greet her, but today he was nowhere to be seen. Rey went looking for him, calling his name. She heard a noise from the kitchen, and walked in to find Buster with … a man.

A huge man, dressed only in tight black underwear, with miles of pale skin on display.

He had his back to her, eating something at the big island in the center of the kitchen, while Buster’s attention was fixed on him, begging and watching for any morsel to drop that he might snatch up. But at the sound of Rey’s entry, and the choked sound she made in her shock, Buster ran over to her, his tail wagging almost clean off in his excitement to greet her.

Rey’s eyes were big as saucers, her heart racing, as the man turned. And then she didn’t know where to look. Not at his chest - that was as wide as her fridge, or his thighs - that looked like very shapely, very muscular tree trunks. Certainly not at the bulge that was very evident in those tighty not-whities. So, she focused on Buster.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I was here to walk your dog, and there must have been a mixup about the days, and OH god, sorry, I’ll just be going now!”

Then she looked -  _ really _ looked - at his face.

The first thing she noticed was that he was young, much younger than she had imagined. He had a large nose and full mouth, pale skin, dotted with moles, and wavy hair just slightly longer than your usual academic sported. But what struck her most were his deep brown eyes, framed as they were by black-rimmed glasses, entirely fixed on her and filled with what looked like slight panic. He was staring at her like a deer caught in the headlights. Then, suddenly, he lurched into action.

“No, no, it’s OK, I just… It’s just that… Hang on for just a second.” He held his hand up for her to stay, and rushed out of the room. He came back a few minutes later dressed in athletic shorts and a T-shirt.

“Let’s start over again! You must be Rey. Mitaka filled me in on the arrangement he made with you. I’m Ben, Buster’s owner.” Before Rey could take a breath to answer, he continued. “I usually have office hours on Fridays, but I cancelled them so I could drive over to Houston to see my mom and dad. Mitaka is out sick, and I forgot that you were supposed to come today! So, it’s I who should be apologizing to you! I am so sorry you had to see that.”

“Don’t be,” Rey answered with a smile. “You’re not so bad to look at. It was just a shock, is all! Yes, I’m Rey, and I just love Buster! He’s such a sweetheart, and so well-behaved on his walkies, yes, aren’t you boy? Who’s a good boy?” Buster, who had perked up at the sound of his name, was demanding scritchies, and Rey was happy to oblige. “Well, I’ll just go then, if you don’t need me to walk him today… Wait, what were you planning to do with him in Houston? I guess he’s just going to stay with you at your parents’ place?”

Ben’s face turned serious. “Honestly, I was wondering how to handle this… I’m going to see my dad, who’s getting treatment for cancer at MD Anderson, so I’m afraid I’ll be up at the hospital a lot. I’d hate for Buster to be left all alone while I’m at the hospital all day. I don’t know if you’d be able to dog-sit him for me this weekend?” He quickly followed that up with, “Of course I’d pay you! You name the price--”

Rey interrupted with, “I’m living in on-campus grad housing, so I can’t have pets. But maybe I could stay here? House-sit and watch him for you while you’re gone? I know you don’t know me, but Mitaka has my references, and I could also give you the contact info for my professors in the vet school.”

“No, no need, I trust you,” Ben countered immediately. “That would be amazing, thank you so much! I’ll be gone till Monday. Here, let’s exchange numbers and contact info.”   


And they did, and afterwards Ben took Rey around to give her all the info she might need over the next four days. And if she blushed, and he stammered when he showed her his big bed where she was welcome to sleep, neither one remarked on it.

\----------

Early Monday morning, as Ben drove the two hours back to College Station, he thought about a pair of beautiful hazel eyes in a striking face, how they slanted up a bit at the corners, and sparkled with life and light. He thought about her freckles, and her beautiful body. He thought about how warmly Buster had greeted her - Buster, the rescue dog, who was suspicious of most people.

He thought about his life these past 12 years. PhD work at MIT, which was a grind of never-ending hours in the lab or writing his thesis. His family were all humanities professors, so his little rebellion had been choosing to major in applied science.

Something else had influenced his choice: as a little boy, he had so many strong feelings that he didn’t know what to do with, until one day he started watching Star Trek. He was struck by Spock and his ability to turn off his emotions and deal only in logic and science; he admired Data, who was logic personified. And so he emulated them and turned off his feelings, until he sometimes felt like he had no feelings left.

He entered the field of chemical engineering and worked long hours to graduate and get tenure, and once he had tenure he worked long hours to set up his lab, secure funding, manage his grad students and postdocs… It never ended. He was successful but lonely, and he felt powerless to change that.

Until this past weekend changed everything. He had always had a strained and distant relationship with his parents, but seeing his dad in the hospital had begun the process of healing between them. And then there was Rey… she had begun by texting him pictures of Buster, but that had evolved into texting day and night about anything and everything. His work. Her studies at the vet school. And then more… Hobbies, favorite movies, childhood memories, hopes and dreams. He’d asked her obliquely if there was a significant other in her life, and found out she only had her best friends Finn and Rose, also grad students at the university.

Finally, a picture had come through last night of her cuddling Buster in his bed. He had asked if he could call her, and they’d talked until the wee hours of the morning like teenagers, until they apparently fell asleep while still on the line.

So now, Ben was headed home, to his condo… and to Rey. He didn’t know what he’d find there, but he was eager to see her and explore this connection they had. And so he drove as fast as he dared, 15 MPH over the speed limit, never stopping as he barrelled down Highway 6 toward her.

When Ben arrived home, he quietly let himself in, not sure what he’d find. Buster wasn’t there to greet him, which was unusual. He quietly made his way through the condo until he arrived at the bedroom, where he found Rey and Buster still sleeping. Buster was cuddled up right next to her, but when he saw his master, his tail began to thump. Ben sat down to cuddle him and pat his head as Rey began to stir. Her eyes opened slowly, and she fixed him with a sweet, sleepy smile.

“Hey there, we stayed up so late last night, I overslept this morning!” As she stretched, Ben’s eyes couldn’t help but follow the movement of her nipples, and the clear outline of her breasts through the thin fabric of her camisole. Rey, following his gaze, reached over and put her hand on his thigh, and Ben began to run to hands up and down her bare arm.

\----------

As Rey revelled in the feel of Ben stroking her skin, she opened her eyes and looked fully up at him. He was staring at her as if he could see her heart and soul, her innermost being. She felt seen, and she felt like she belonged, here in his bed and in his life. She propped herself up on her elbow, reached up to pull his face towards her, and touched her lips to his. As they deepened the kiss, Buster popped up and started nudging them with his nose and pawing them, desperate for his share of the cuddles.

They broke apart laughing, but with the promise of more hanging heavy in the air. For the first time in a long time, Rey felt like she was home.

\----------

_ Rey entered the garden on Finn’s arm. She looked ahead to her groom, waiting for her at the end of the aisle, with his Best Man sitting at his feet. Buster was freshly groomed, wearing a little bow tie, and looking his dapper best. She glanced over and saw Maz in the front row, beaming, and Rose waiting for her at the front. But her eyes were drawn immediately back to Ben, who was looking at her as if she was his whole universe. She felt seen - and she had one more person in this world who loved her unconditionally, and who belonged to her, and she to him. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading!!  
Please come visit me on [Tumblr](https://nancylovesreylo.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/nancylovesreylo)!
> 
> My other stories:  
[Rocky Mountain High](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21464980/chapters/51153376): Pro tennis player Ben Solo suffers a season-ending injury in the finals of the US Open, prompting a personal crisis that leads him back home to Colorado. He just may find more than he was searching for along the way in the form of a pretty park ranger named Rey.
> 
> [The Call of the Light](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20527862/chapters/48722465) by [Moongrim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moongrim/), a post-TLJ Episode IX fic which I am helping to translate from French!
> 
> [Bon Appetit!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18595489) by [TazWren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TazWren/pseuds/TazWren) and [Littlemistake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlemistake/pseuds/Littlemistake). I consulted on cooking and provided the recipes for shrimp etouffee, vinaigrette, and Bananas Foster!


	2. A World of Octobers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes... baby! How will Rey handle pregnancy? And how will Buster deal with a new baby in the house?! Reylo baby, Halloween, cute doggie and pregnant tummy costumes, and Buster/baby love.  
Thanks to Evi/shestoolazytologin for the prompt of Buster taking care of Ben and Rey's baby!

[](https://imgur.com/DcY9k3L)  


Buster HATED Halloween. The weird noises, the scary faces, the people all out in the streets. Ben hated Halloween too, and before Rey came, Buster and Ben usually turned all their lights off and hid in the condo while Ben ate Reese’s peanut butter cups.

But Buster LOVED Rey, and Rey loved Halloween. And this Halloween, something was happening that Buster didn’t understand. Rey’s stomach was getting bigger and bigger, like she had eaten a balloon and someone kept blowing it up. She looked like she would pop any minute, and she smelled different, too. Buster was VERY worried, but as Ben seemed calm enough, Buster just took it in stride and tried to kiss Rey and love on her as much as possible, and be more careful on their walks, so as not to pull her off balance as she waddled along. He just didn’t know how much time he had left with her!

Buster’s animal senses could tell change was in the air. What that would bring, he could not guess.

\----------

After they married in a garden 9 months after they first met, with Buster as best man, Rey moved in with Buster and Ben. She was still working hard to finish her final year of vet school when she started feeling nausea that never abated. A pregnancy test came back positive - a surprise, but a welcome one.

Rey had just turned 26, but Ben was already 36 and well established in his career as a tenured professor, and she knew it was time to start a family. They both wanted children, but worried about how Buster would take it. He had always been an “only dog,” a bit of an alpha dog with other animals, and had not been socialized much with children.

The morning sickness for the first trimester was absolutely awful. Rey would drag herself to school, feeling like vomiting 24/7 but never actually vomiting (maybe that would have brought a little relief!). At home, all she could do was lie there feeling miserable. Buster was her constant companion, lying next to her, trotting off to get Ben if she needed anything and then always returning to keep his silent vigil at her side. He seemed to instinctively know that she needed quiet, and didn’t want to be touched too much. Rey was so comforted by his presence, petting his head softly and murmuring to him as she lay there. Her sweet, sweet good boy.

After the nausea passed, Rey loved being pregnant. She felt really confident about her body for the first time in her life, as her breasts grew fuller and her curves grew rounder. Ben was always touching her, rubbing her neck and back, cradling her growing stomach. As satisfying as their sex life had always been, the pregnancy hormones in the 2nd trimester made Rey want sex ALL the time. She even had orgasms in her sleep, which had never happened to her before! She’d wake to the feeling washing over her, and the odd sensation of her uterus tightening, hard.

They had to be creative as her belly grew, but as Ben would push into her from behind, or as she rode him till they were both panting and sweaty, Rey absolutely reveled in the feeling of fertility, worry-free sex, and curvy body positivity.

They had to kick Buster out of the bedroom more and more, which he took with ill grace, slinking out reluctantly with a wounded look on his face. But Rey knew he’d have to get used to changes and not being the center of attention after the baby came! And she worried about this in her heart.

Rey graduated that April at 4 months pregnant, with Ben, Han, Leia, and Maz at her side. After Han’s cancer went into remission, he and Leia had moved to College Station to be nearer to their only child and his wife. Maz still lived in Beaumont, Texas, their hometown, but as it was less than a 3-hour drive to College Station, she visited often.

Rey’s stomach grew and grew, and she knew she didn’t have much time so she made the most of it. She found a job as a staff veterinarian with the practice she’d interned at during her schooling.

On Halloween eve, Rey spent the whole evening having regular, light contractions while watching “The Two Towers” at home with Ben. But as soon as she got up and moved around, they stopped.

“I don’t think he likes the loud noises!” Rey exclaimed, laughing.

On Halloween night, Rey was dressed up Kira from the new Star Wars trilogy, her belly was dressed up as BB-8, and Buster was their sidekick as R2-D2. He was visibly upset about this, slinking around low to the ground and occasionally trying to shake it off with spastic rolls and twitches.

“Rey, are you sure you’re up for going to this party? Your due date is just a week away,” Ben asked as she put the final touches on her makeup.

“It’ll be fine! I can’t pass up my only opportunity to wear this costume - well, for a while, at least. I know we’ll win best costume for sure!” She kissed her husband, and decided they could be a little late to the party. He looked so good as Kylo Ren, she just had to climb him like a tree. Maybe her tree-climbing was like that of a giant, ungainly sloth, but still, he didn’t seem to mind as she reached for the buttons of his high-waisted pants.

She sank down, taking him in her mouth and moaning around him in appreciation. After a few minutes spent getting him nice and ready, she quickly pulled her pants and underwear down and pushed him onto the bed, climbing on top and sinking down on him. She could hardly see over her stomach, especially with BB-8 still sticking out over it, but she couldn’t be bothered to take her top off and mess up her carefully done hair and makeup.

Ben used his thumb to rub her in just the right way, and combined with his thrusts, she came, calling his name, as pumped into her a few more times and then emptied himself in his own climax.

As she rose off him, feeling like a whale, she felt wetness seep out of her. But suddenly it was a lot - she felt a sudden gush of liquid like she was peeing. Confused and embarrassed, she scrambled off the bed, rushing for the bathroom, before she realized what was happening.

“Ben, my water just broke!”

\----------

Buster saw Ben and Rey rush out of the house. He knew they were going out, but he thought they’d planned to take him to the party, too. Sad, confused, and alone, stuck in this awful costume, and worried about them, Buster wandered into their bedroom to see if he could find any clues as to why their departure seemed so frantic. He found the floor covered in a liquid that wasn’t pee, and smelled very much like whatever had made Rey’s smell change these past months. Whimpering, he jumped up on their bed to be closer to their scents, and resigned himself to waiting and watching the house.

A little while later, he heard a key in the lock and ran up to the front door. It was Grandma and Grandpa, oh happy day! Buster couldn’t help jumping a bit, even though he knew he wasn’t supposed to, and wagging his tail frantically. Grandma and Grandpa said something about taking him to their house, so after they took off that awful costume (sweet relief!) and gathered up all his things, including his favorite Chewie stuffie, he went quietly with them.

After a few days, Grandma and Grandpa took him home. Buster loved Grandma and Grandpa, but he was pining for his Ben and Rey. He missed them so much. How could life go on without them?! He hoped that Rey was alright. Did her belly pop?

He rushed into the house then stopped dead. There was a VERY interesting smell here. Immediately he began sniffing as if his life depended on it, Detective Buster on the case! He found that it was concentrated in the spare bedroom. The door was shut, but he could sniff under the crack, and… it smelled like milk, but sweeter than he was used to, and poop, but more sour than he was used to. He heard some strange snuffling and squeaking noises, and then Ben and Rey’s voices. He whined and scuffled around the door, desperate to be with them.

“Ben, Rey, we’re here!” Leia called through the door. “Can Buster come in? How do you want to introduce the two of them?”

“Sure, let him in! I think we’re ready!” Buster heard Rey call back, and his heart felt fit to burst with anticipation.

The door opened, and he trotted carefully in to find Rey holding a small bundle, Ben at her side with his hand on her shoulder.

“Buster, this is Oliver. He’s your new baby brother. You must be very soft with him, because he’s little and fragile and new to this world. And you must also be very patient, because Oliver won’t know how to pet you at first. He might pull your ears or hit you, but he doesn’t mean it. He loves you Buster, and so do we!” Rey reached down to give him a gentle caress, and Buster rolled his eyes with happiness.

He carefully reached his snout up to sniff the bundle, and was surprised to find a mix of Ben, Rey, and something soft and sweet all its own. The bundle made a loud squeak, and Buster scuttled back, but continued to gaze with his ears pricked up, curious and heart filled to bursting with love and something else he couldn’t name.

Buster knew suddenly that this was his little brother, and he would protect him with his life if needed. His Oliver needed him! And Buster was just the good boy for the job!

\----------

One year later, on Halloween night, Rey and Ben were taking little Oliver out for his very first Halloween. This year, Rey was dressed as Kira and Ben as Kylo once again, but BB-8 was now his own little person, riding in a stroller as Buster trotted along protectively beside him, dressed as Chewbacca this year.

Buster and Oliver had been inseparable this year, and as Oliver grew, Buster’s worries grew too. OH, when he had learned to crawl, Buster had nearly had a heart attack! HOW would he protect his baby now that he could MOVE?! Buster felt grey hairs growing in on his snout from the stress. And now, Oliver was pulling up on the furniture and walking along it. Oh my goodness, what adventures I have ahead of me with my little boy, Buster thought with a fond sigh.

His leash stretched a bit as Ben, who was holding it, leaned over to kiss Rey. Buster heard him say, “Rey, I never thought I’d say this, but I’m having so much fun out with you and our boys, I think Halloween just might be my favorite time of year! And I cannot WAIT to get back home, get Olly to sleep, and play ‘Kylo interrogates the Scavenger’! GOD you look hot!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS: If you find any errors in chapter 2, please let me know! It is UNBETA'D. I am living dangerously.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading!!  
Please come visit me on [Tumblr](https://nancylovesreylo.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/nancylovesreylo)!
> 
> My other stories:  
[the red thread of fate](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21464980/chapters/51153376) (oneshot): sweet, devoted Reylo in Asia (Taiwan!)
> 
> [Rocky Mountain High](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21464980/chapters/51153376) (complete): sweet, devoted Reylo inspired by pro tennis, southern Colorado, and John Denver


End file.
